[Star Traveler]

This topic was posted about an hour ago, but the thread was pulled (someone else's thread) because of no link. So, since it was an interesting topic, I thought I would post it here with the accompanying link to the article... :-)

[Star Traveler]

There were several comments on the other thread, so please... “go at it again”...:-)

[Mr. K]

Answer: It will benefit Wal-Mart

If not then they are really not smart business people....

[Disambiguator]

House brand products are more profitable for retailers, even if the retail price is much lower than brand-name equivalent items.

[oyez]

I hope “Great Value” isn’t code for Made in China.

[jrd]

If you look close they have raised prices also...

[Star Traveler]

I have used Walmart quite a bit, too, for grocery shopping, and then go to some other grocery stores to fill in a few odds and ends.

But, I have noticed a big increase in the “white” Walmart brand that they seem to be really pushing hard at their stores. And I don’t necessarily think that all “house brands” are the equivalent of some of the name brands. The quality doesn’t always match up, even if the price is lower. It’s lower for a reason... LOL...

Anyway..., if they start pushing out a lot of other name brands, I think Walmart is going to start to lose a bunch of business in the process... sorry Walmart, but I’ll be looking at other stores, more now... that you’re trying to get rid of other quality products and replace them with no-name-brands (and yeah, “Walmart brand” is a no-name brand... :-) ...).

[La Lydia]

That is interesting. On the rare occasions I am in Wal-mart, the only grocery items I buy there are brand-name products.

[autumnraine]

I think Great Value is one of the best generic brands out there. My father worked at a food plant and most of the time the food was the same, they would stop the line and replace the label.

That being said, I do like some brand names (McCormicks is a good example) and don’t want to wade through a football size store for Walmart brand items only. This is a really dumb move on Walmart IMO.

[gardencatz]

Well, more power to them! Where you shop is a choice. Don’t like great value? Don’t shop there.

Cindie

[CrappieLuck]

So Walmart is now just the World’s ALDI.
I think this is good news for Kroger. If they carry the brands people want, people will shop there.

Walmart can keep their cheap, unknown brand.

[Mengerian]

In all likelihood, the Great Value products are being made by the brand-name manufacturers.

I was once an auditor for a chain retail/grocer and noticed on select bills of lading for pasta (for example), the brand name and store brand were on the same manifest.

[SkyDancer]

To me the quality of their house brand “Great Value” isn’t as good as name brand food .... IMHO ....

[DoughtyOne]

Why don't they drop the subterfuge and just call it the Great Wall Value. We already know what it is and where it comes from. And no thanks. My dollars may not buy me as much, but the food I purchase won't have me glowing at night, or with mercury levels higher than a carp taking a water nap, floating on it's side.

[JasonC]

This is all horsefeathers. Every major chain has its off brand, store brand "value" line of staple products, and carries them alongside national brands. Consumers can choose lots of advertising for about the same thing or a lower price. Entirely up to them.

I hate whiners, and that is all this is, whining.

[edge10]

This is getting annoying.

Their ‘Great Value’ garbage is pushing out the brands that my family likes. I have a rule of thumb: Store brands are OK, as long as you don’t have to put it in your mouth.

Soon it will be time to find somewhere else to shop.

[mentor2k]

You can gripe if you want, but all-in-all, Walmart is an American company focused on making a profit. I see nothing wrong with what they are doing by offering another option, “Great-Value”. If the public doesn’t like the choices at WM, then the market will force a change. It’s the way capitalism works. Always has, always will.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

The producers have only themselves to blame. Some products, like Oreos, have so many varieties that there is little room for anything but all the different kinds of Oreos in the cookie section. Every variation on box-size, flavor, cookie size, etc. is available. Why are there vanilla Oreos when there are Vienna Fingers? Why are there vegetable flavored Ritz when there are Vegetable thins?

Every producer is trying to cut into every other producer's marketshare by loading up the shelves with dozens of similar products.

I would rather have each producer put its best foot forward, rather than one producer monopolizing the shelves.

Unfortunately many stores are trying to cut costs by having the distributors fill the shelves. This is basically like have the foxes guard the henhouse. You can bet that the distributors are enticed to pack the shelves with various overlapping products of one producer rather than giving each producer a fair piece of shelving real estate.

Also, a bunch of businesses went on a buying spree during the bubble and got in so much debt they had to cancel certain brands. Archer cookies is gone. No more windmill cookies for me because some global bakery conglomerate bought them up and then shuttered their bakeries.

The free market is being twisted around real bad right now. Another reason to get rid of the Fed and let the market set interest rates so we don't have these credit boom/bust cycles allowing the inmates to run the asylum.

[driftdiver]

So they are getting rid of all brand name food products and going to generic only?

[humblegunner]

I tried the Great Value canned ravioli and can’t tell
it from Chef Boy-Ar-Dee. Sorry, Chef. It’s a half buck cheaper.

[Question Liberal Authority]

I shop for groceries at Wal-Mart all the time. In my experience, they have a much larger selection of brand name products than the average grocery store, and their everyday prices tend to be in line with the "sale" prices of some other stores. I've found many national brand products at Wal-Mart which I could not find at other grocery stores.

All grocery stores have some sort of house brand product. In some cases, the house brand is comparable in quality. In some cases, it's the exact same stuff with a different label.

House brands aren't always fixated on cost. For example, Safeway has an "Eating Right" house brand which focuses on nutrition.